New Life, Same Old Tennis
by shortiemikii
Summary: Ever wish you were in Prince of Tennis? OC character who comes from the States to Japan. Can she prove her worth to be a Seigaku Regular? Can a girl be on the boy's team?  Not much romance, more of adventure, humor, and loving older brotherly moments.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : I do not own Prince of Tennis, any of the character, or anything made be the Artist/Author: Takeshi Konomi.

Auther note: I hope you enjoy my story, I gave the character basic qualities but you can imagine her in your own way. Reviews would be appreciated :)

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Pitter patter of my sneakers was all you could hear in the clean and empty place. The chimes of automatic double doors sliding open for me rang as I stepped through, rolling behind me my suitcase quietly. I paused as I put my hand up in the air as the sun immediately hit my face full force. Looking up into the clear blue sky with few white blobs of clouds, a slight breeze was blowing. Then a low and loud rumble could be heard as I watched a plane take off from Narita International Airport. I readjusted my duffle back on one shoulder while rummaging through my jean pocket. Pulling out a small piece of badly folded notepad paper, I held it in my hand as I rolled my suitcase with me and approached a taxi parked right by the curb. The driver immediately popped open the trunk of the car and helped me with my luggage; he opened the back seat door and I sat in.

"Arigato," (Thank you)I thanked him as he shut the door and walked to the driver's seat.

"Doko ni?" (Where to?)He asked me as he started the engine. I handed him the piece of paper with the address of my new apartment on it.

"Yoi," (Okay) and he was off, I propped up an elbow on the armrest and started out the window and I leaned on my wrist. I'm here alone, in a whole new country, yeah I know the language but that doesn't mean much. I have my loving foster parents to thank for this situation of mine right now, adopted me just for the media attention and love. How ridiculous, even though behind the scenes they were always evil. Not parent material anyways, could care less what they did with me. My Japanese was my second language, next to English—thanks to the horrible schoolings they forced me to go through. I grew up in New York City so I speak English first and foremost. I was raised starting at a young age, in a top leveled—expensive, education school system rather than regular public school. Which also includes advanced preparation schooling on the weekends and summers—forced, obviously. I'm currently going to start my first year of High school here, even though I am 15 years old, and should be a sophomore. Well Eastern education systems are a lot tougher in the West, no matter what private school I attended I guess. The cab parked in front of an average looking 25 story high apartment.

"Koko de wa," (Here we are) he said to me looking through the rearview mirror. I searched my pocket for 1000 yen and paid him. He was going to hand me my change while I had already pulled on the doors' latch.

"Sore o iji," (Keep it) I said while smiling and pushed open the door, stepping out. He looked young probably college student and he was earning money, I thought to do him a favor as he was so nice to me. He then got out my luggage from the trunk and shifted through his pockets for something. Thinking he was about to force me the change from the ride, I was ready to protest when a card was shoved into my hands.

"Nippon e yokoso, anata no nihongo wa totemo yoidesu. Anata wa doko ni noru hitsuyo ga aru baai watashi o yobidashimasu." (Welcome to Japan, your Japanese is very good. Call me if you ever need a ride anywhere.) I looked down on the card and there was printed "Taxi Service. Futaka, Renji. 083697523."

"Arigato Futaka-san!" (Thank you Mr. Futaka) I said smiling and bowed once.

"Sono nani…" (Its nothing)He paused not knowing my name yet.

"A watashi dake o yobidasu Miki Futaka-san" (Ah, just call me Miki, Mr. Futaka) I said, totally forgetting to introduce myself earlier

"A Miki-chan, shite watashi dake o yobidasu Renji." He smiled as he bowed back once.

"Bye bye," he waved as he walked back to the driver's seat and I watched the green taxi take off into the quite roads. Turning around I faced a bigger problem, lugging my luggage behind me, slipping on my duffle bag, and carrying the other small bags, I headed to the main lobby. The security desk directed me to my room number that was written on the set of keys that my parents gave me. Going up 6 floors on the elevator and making a few turns down the hallways. I finally reached the golden plate that etched the letter and numbers F210. Putting my key in the hole and jiggling it a bit, the door opened up to some musty air. I moved everything past the door way and set it in the living room first while I got a feel of the place. It had two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen/dining room and living room. All already furnished with basic needs of pots, pans, tv, fans, AC, lighting, hangers, dressers, mirrors and everything else possibly needed. I sighed out loud, the rent must cost a lot, and the amount of money getting sent to me per month is not going to cover for this whole place. I stopped dwelling on the fact that I had to make my own living somehow, and started to unpack my things, school started tomorrow! My foster parents said that the school I was enrolled in wasn't far away from the apartment. I could ask anyone for directions, or just follow the stream of students. Let the unpacking start! I hung all of my clothes in the closet, folded all my pants and other essentials in the dresser. Put the cookbooks, utensils, and basic salt and pepper in the kitchen. Shampoo, hair wash, laundry basket, detergent, brushes, toothpaste, towels and mini towels in the bathroom. I decided to leave any other miscellaneous stuff for afterschool tomorrow. The clock read 8:45PM on the wall, and I was already feeling exhausted. Turning off all the overhead lighting in my apartment, I crawled onto my queen sized bed, set my cell phone alarm to wake up for school tomorrow on the bedside table and went to bed with thoughts about tomorrow, the first day of my new life.

I woke up from my peaceful sleep to a blaring noise by my ear The noise so recognizable for fifteen years to form a hatred—the dreadful alarm clock. My phone kept ringing the most annoying tone as well as vibrating on the table. I grumbled into my pillow and reached over to the table to grab my cell phone. 7:36 AM it read, I sighed and rolled in bed—turning off all the other 5 alarms set to ring in the next 30 minutes. School started at 8:05AM I thought to myself dreadfully. Rolling a bit more to get the last few seconds of comfortable sleep, I finally got out of bed and did my same boring morning routine. Shower, brush my teeth, wash my face, tie my hair, and change my clothes. The bathroom mirror reflected a girl with dark brown eyes, tanned skin, and black long hair. I walked out of the bathroom, went to my room to pick out a good first day outfit. I choose a pair of fitted dark jeans, light grey button up blouse with rolled cuffs, black skinny tie and I was ready to go. Grabbing my dark blue Jansport book bag, I headed towards the door where I took off my sneakers. Putting on my grey high-tops Converses on, I set out the door, down my apartment, and out the lobby. I saw a stream of kids with suitcase like book bags and uniformed clothing. I looked at myself and back at the crowd, I stood out…just a bit, I reassured myself. Boy was this going to be a long day, I thought as I started to follow them. Light talking amongst group of friends were heard all over the peaceful streets of streaming kids, but I got anxious when I overheard them whispering about me. Saying how stupid I looked, looking like a boys uniform. Well excuse me for not knowing that only boys can wear ties around here, I thought to myself in spite. I decided to turn around and I saw a medium length black hair girl with another one with light brown hair, both looking at me with surprised faces.

****Note - all dialogue is in Japanese, but to make it easier it's written in English. Except if the dialogue is in bold, it is her speaking English****

"Hey you two, if you think you're so smart and whispering, you're not, so keep further comments to your small brains." I stomped off to school and left the crowd around them that started to laugh.

Now I got myself more noticed by people, hurray I thought sarcastically. I don't especially like be noticed, I like to blend in most of the time, and not cause a scene—if necessary. I turned just around the corner of the block, and I saw a grand building—with a clock tower on the very top. Well, hello high school; I checked my cell phone from my handy front pocket, which read 8:03 AM. Shoving it back into my pocket, I went inside and followed the signs in the halls to the main office.

"Excuse me, I am new here, my schedule did not come in the mail for me?" I said over the countertop to no one in particular—anyone helping me would be fine.

"Oh yes, your name?"A rather plump lady with short dark curly hair asked me, typing away on her computer.

"Kimero, Michelle. Though everyone can call me Miki." I replied with a smile—never piss off office ladies in the school system.

"Welcome to Japan," she handed me my schedule and a small index card. I said thank you and looked at my schedule. I was in classroom 1-A, I had English III—wait, what? With the Juniors? History I, Geography I, Math II—hey hold up, math TWO? With more older kids, well technically the same age as me. Class was about the start and I had to find my homeroom first then English III. Damn my background of American decent. I followed signs on the walls that led me to homeroom 1-A. I slid the white door open, and entered the room—there was silence while people stared. I stick out that darn much? I thought dolefully to myself as I approached my Sensei. I handed the teacher the index card from the office, saying I was new, transferred and all the good stuff.

"**Welcome…to…Japan!"** the teacher said very slowly in English with a Japanese accent. I had to smile and almost laughed out loud.

"Thank you Mitsuki Sensei. I hope you take care of me while I'm here," I bowed and used my ultimate polite parent charming skills in Japanese.

Mr. Mitsuki seemed surprised at first, but then called for the whole classes attention, "everyone? Please take your seats; I must introduce a new student to this school which will be joining our class. This is Kimero, Michelle." He held my shoulders and presented me at the front of the class room.

"Hi guys…? Well…you can just call me Miki is fine and I hope we all get along and I become friends with you all this year." I bowed to the class while they applauded a bit.

"Sensei, where do I sit?"

"Anywhere with an open seat is fine Miki-chan," he said, going back to his podium opening a black folder. I sat at the far end of the classroom near the windows which had a good look over the fields outside. Roll call was going on; I guess homeroom is no different no matter what country you're in. Mitsuki Sensei was probably talking about the coming first semester of this year and all the other good stuff—personally I had paid no attention until I heard the bell chime.

*Ding, dong, dang, doong*

*Doong, dang, ding, dong*

They had chimes instead of bells, who knew? So much better than the U.S. People started to stand up, and go to their class, but I had to go somewhere else—English III. As I got up and collected my book bag, some people approached me.

"Hi! I am Satsuna, Makiyo!" She had cute short light brown curls around her face.

"I'm Katano, Taka." A boy with short black hair said with a smile.

"Im Fuma, Chiyo—just call me Chiyo!" A big smile hung on her face as her bangs rested on her forehead with medium length dark brown hair.

"Ah hi, I'm Miki, nice to meet you guys." I said a bit hesitantly, wondering why they were approaching me.

"Miki-chan no need to be so formal! We're all going to be friends here from now on right Taka-kun?" Chiyo said brightly while smacking his back with more force than necessary.

Before I could say anything else the chimes rang again, "ah! I have to go to class, sorry guys, I'll see you in the next class after!" I said as I made my way out the door and into the halls.

"Ah—okay Miki-chan…" I heard Makiyo say faintly from the room. Now the problem is to find my English classroom, which my schedual says on 3-C. I turned a few corners and found a staircase, going up two flights of stairs, I followed arrows on the walls that led me to classroom C. I took a deep breath, slid the door open, and walked in with all the confidence I could ever get. Everyone stopped working and looked up from their desks, the teacher stopped writing on the board. I got a bit nervous—well a bit is an understatement. They all looked at me like an alien, I guess that would be a natural reaction, judging by my clothes, and I was late.

"Excuse me but who are you?" The teacher said as she put down the chalk.

"Ah…I'm new here and I was assigned this class, I'm sorry for being late, I couldn't find the room." I replied nervously, looking through my pocket for that darn index card.

I gave her the note, and she beamed at me after reading the whole thing. Like she was proud I could be in such a high class as a freshman. Tasaki Sensei was her name, and she turned to the class which was already quite with a few whispers.

"Class, we have a new student, her name is Michelle, and she's a freshman from the United States. Please make her feel welcome!"

People started to murmur and whisper to each other and staring at me. Gosh, people way to make me feel more comfortable, I thought to myself in front of the class.

"**Take a seat,"** she told me.

"Oh I can speak Japanese," I told her in the most polite voice I could come up with—adding in my perfect Japanese accent. I looked around the room, finding the only available seat left in the class. I walked down the aisle, sat down and looked who was next to my desk. This tall looking guy with short spiked up hair, who was apparently eating behind a textbook? I snickered to myself. Tasaki Sensei started off with some simple reading; I borrowed a text book from her today. She called on a guy that was next to me, hiding very obviously I might add. He stuttered the words and didn't know how to pronounce the next word: abundant. I decided to help the poor guy out.

I whispered as best as I could, **"a-bun-dent!"**

He still didn't get it so I did it again, and again—people started laughing and I think that Miss. Tasaki became annoyed with my "whispering."

"Well, since you seem to know this, read four paragraphs Miki-san." The class snickered, and oh'ed at me, I almost laughed out loud—this must be some joke, I thought. This baby book? You got to be kidding me—oh well, beggars can't be choosers. I stood up and began reading smoothly, when I was done, everyone was looking at me, including Tasaki Sensei who looked surprised. I had an innocent smile on my face, as if I could take anything she wanted to throw at me. She stopped the reading session and we moved onto writing lessons. I was once again called on to do some sentences on the board. Sighing as I got up from my seat, going towards the board without my notebook and answered the sentence. I wrote in script, and sat back down. Then the whole class had many questions and talk amongst them.

"What is that?" referring to my script.

Tasaki Sensei was surprised and I heard her say to herself, "Advanced Placement English level Five…" she looked back at me asking how I knew this—I thought it would have been obvious.

"**I came from the NYC, I grew up there and lived there all my life—you expect me not to know script? That's third grade English material."** I spoke in English. The chime rang and class was dismissed. The classroom emptied out and I was the last one to leave, sliding the door open and close behind me. In the halls, I heard gossip about the "New transfer American Girl," I didn't know what I was supposed to feel about that. So I ignored it and moved on, to my History I class back with my fellow freshmen. Going back down to the first floor, I met up with Chiyo, Makiyo, and Taka outside of the room."

"Miki-chan, where were you! You weren't in English class, skipping isn't very good, did you get lost? Could you not find your way? Did any of the upper classmen trick you?" Chiyo-chan shot me with ten million questions at once, grabbing my arms and shaking me.

"Chiyo-chan, please calm down, I don't have English class with you guys, I didn't skip and no I did not get bullied by upper classmen." I had to laugh a bit at her over worried expression.

"Then what class did you have? Block two is always English class I for our class." Taka-kun asked curiously.

"Oh, I didn't get a chance to show you guys my schedule. I have English III upstairs."

"WHAT?" Chiyo-chan almost fell due to shock. Makiyo-chan caught her and told her to calm down.

"Can we see your schedule Miki-chan?" Makiyo asked me politely. I rummaged through my book bag's front pocket and found it. I handed it to Taka-kun and they all looked it over at the same time.

"You have Math II?" Taka-kun's surprised face looked up from the paper at me.

I scratched my head, "yeah…I will die in that class, hahaha." I said nervously.

"Miki-chan is subarashi ne?" (amazing right?) Makiyo-chan discussed with the other two. While they nodded their heads furiously while returning my schedule.

"Well never mind this, I still have class with you right now. We can't stand here all day!" I said while pushing them to the door, forcing them to open the door and go through. The same routine went though all morning long, in all the freshmen classes until math came into play. I had Math II next, in 2-D. Waving bye to all three of my new friends, I went up the stairs, past a few doors and found 2-D. I slid the door open and it looked the same as every other room except—older people. I gave the teacher that index card again, and he told me to take a seat next to some weird looking dude near the back. He looked intimidating—I think Takisawa Sensei said his name was Kaidoh, Kaoru? The chimes rang and Takisawa Sensei told us to do some warm up problems he wrote on the board first. They were so easy, I thought to myself as I scribbled the answers in my notebook. About twenty minutes later, he started to call on people for the answers.

"Kaidou-san? Number six please."

"Uh…247?" His raspy voice had a sense of nervousness to it.

"Incorrect, anyone else?" Takisawa Sensei moved to another student, as embarrassment was clearly written on Kaidou-san's face. I tried to make myself bled with the class, so he wouldn't call on me. Though it never works does it, he called on me. Signaling for me to answer.

Hesitantly I responded, "263?"

"Correct, who else had trouble on that?" He asked as the whole class raised their hands. Well this is no shy country, I thought a devastatingly to myself

"Michelle or Kimero-san, why don't you come up and show the class how you solved it?"

I stuttered trying to come up with some excuse as to not go up. But I had no choice I figured, and decided to face my horrible fate. As I walked up the aisle and lifted a chalk, I could feel everyone's eyes on my back. Which totally did not help, I swallowed and began to explain as I did it step by step again on the board.

"Excellent, Kimero-san" Mr. Takisawa said to me.

"Miki is just fine Takisawa Sensei," I said then bowed, putting down the chalk and hurrying back to my seat. Feeling my face turn red out of embarrassment and being shy.

"Kaidou, why don't you try number seven then?"

"Umm…78?"

"No, Miki-san?" Damn, why me again?

"128..?" I said with a small voice.

"Correct, Michelle, why don't you tutor your classmate Mr. Kaidou?" Right then I felt eyes burning right through my head. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes and he seemed angry yet annoyed.

"Uh…uh…" I didn't want to get beat up by this guy, I could feel the whole class tense up at Takisawa Sensei's question too.

"Mr. Kaidou needs this, he's falling behind and I can't delay the class for him." What was I supposed to do?

"Uh, okay…Takisawa Sensei." I gave in, although I could feel Kaidou didn't seem too pleased with it. His glare was on me for the rest of class. The chimes rang again, and the whole class started to move out of the room.

I looked over at his desk, while he collected his stuff in his bad, "so um…want to do our homework together…if you need any help…and stuff?" I asked wearily.

"Tch!" Was his response, he got up and walked away, flicking me off. How arrogant, I thought. I'm just offering my help, but if he doesn't want to that's fine. The rest of the morning was spent with my fellow freshmen class and my new found friends. Which I found out are long time friends from Middle school. Chiyo-chan I could tell is like the energetic, overly curious, ditzy and loud friend. Makiyo-chan is like the quite, level headed, calm, and smart one. And Taka-kun is like the one who gets bullied by Chiyo, and taken care by Makiyo. Hahaha, this will be one very interesting school term I thought to myself.

The chimes rang and it was finally lunch time. Chiyo, Taka and Makiyo all had bentos ready, thought I did not know of this. So they told me to go buy lunch at the cafeteria and they would all be in homeroom eating their lunches when I got back.

"Okay, thanks, see you guys!" I said as I walked out of the room.

"Better hurry Miki-chan, the line gets really long." Makiyo yelled after me.

On my way to the cafeteria, after getting lost with all the confusing arrow signs, I came across a poster.

**ATTENTION ALL SEIGAKU TENNIS PLAYERS!**

**PRACTICE AT LUNCH, MEET OUTSIDE AT 12:40PM 6/3/10**

**Tryouts will be held at 4:30PM today after school**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : I do not own Prince of Tennis, any of the character, or anything made be the Artist/Author: Takeshi Konomi.**

**Auther note: Reviews would be appreciated :) Oh and also this takes place in High School, rather than Middle School, and so the 3rd years are Seniors, and 2ed years and Juniors and Ryoma is a Sophomore. Which also means everyone is a year older so Ryoma has been a regular for a year already.**

**A/N 2: Sorry if the story is going slow or boring, I just need to introduce everyone and their characteristics/personality. Please be patient, some drama will come rolling around soon ^_^ (next chapter).**

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**Recap:**

On my way to the cafeteria, after getting lost with all the confusing arrow signs, I came across a poster.

**ATTENTION ALL SEIGAKU TENNIS PLAYERS!**

**PRACTICE AT LUNCH, MEET OUTSIDE AT 12:40PM 6/3/06**

**Tryouts will be held at 4:30PM today after school**

**. . .**

Cool, I thought. They have a tennis team too? Well of course, with all the other club activities offered here, why wouldn't they have basic sports teams. I started to wonder how my own team is doing back home and before I knew it I ended up outside. I want to try out; at least I could do something I liked with my time here. I'll go check out Seigaku's tennis team now…or afterschool since I should get some food now. I checked the time on my cell phone and 30 minutes already had passed of this period. Getting food now would be a waste, not to mention the long line Makiyo-chan mentioned. Outside I walked around the building to find some other students and asked where the tennis courts were.

"Where's the tennis team?" I asked a girl.

"The girls team, or boys?"

"Both please."

She pointed to the side of the building, and told me to walk along that path, and then I should see both tennis teams and courts. I thanked her and walked along the way instructed. The path was so peaceful and clean. The trees were swishing from the wind and spots of sunlight came through the space between the leaves. I heard light talking and pitter patter of balls bouncing. I sped up a bit, and saw some tennis courts, with girls ranging from tall to short playing—in uniforms. White skirts, that were outlined in pink, and a white fitted shirt. They looked a bit too easy going and gentle though. I walked along the path a little further. And again I heard the sound of balls, but now loud back talk between two people—more precisely, boys. It was a game between two guys, one who I did not recognize and the other…Kaidou?

"No Snake shot today huh Viper?" Came from a guy with short spiked up hair, who returned the ball with a strong backhand.

"Tch…you're noisy."

I didn't know Kaidou was on the tennis team; whoa he's pretty good I thought to myself. They both had some awesome moves; points were scored from both players. I forgot how long I was looking at the match and heard the chime ring then an old lady clapped her hands for their attention,

"Alright, that's enough, pack up and go. I'll see you all at 4:30PM today!"

Then she walked away. I quickly ran back to the front of the building and inside to my classroom.

"Miki-chan? Where have you been?" Taka-kun asked as he saw me.

"Ah the lunch line was so long, I didn't even get close, people kept skipping me!" I lied.

"Don't let them bully you like that!" Chiyo-chan put one leg on top of a chair and she pumped her arm in the air, "Chiyo will take care of them next time!" I laughed and told her it was okay, that I could catch something from a store later. Class was starting, since the Sensei stepped in the room after a few more minutes. Then the rest of the day went by smoothly. Chiyo, Makiyo, and Taka wanted to hang out after and show me around the neighborhood but I told them I had to finish unpacking. Chiyo-chan made a puppy dog face while Makiyo consoled her and started to walk in the opposite direction. Taka-kun waved good bye and I did so, saying I would see them all tomorrow morning. I looked at the time and it was 4:03PM I had a few good minutes to go back home and get everything in order. I went back to my apartment, and dug through my closet, I was looking for my loose and long white shirt along with some white shorts. The shorts reached around to past my knees with a few black strips on the sides and the shirt a bit longer than my waist. I found a white hat and figured out to tie my hair together and stuff it under. I also found my favorite racket and tennis set still in good condition from the airplane ride here. I checked the mirror and when I considered that I would pass as a boy, I was off. Yeah I was going to try out as a boy, what could it hurt right? Heading towards the tennis court I checked my phone again—it was 4:28PM. I arrived at the boy's tennis court soon after, and I saw that some were wearing different uniforms than others. Most of them wore dark blue, kind of green sweats with matching pants. And about eight or nine others had a white shirt with a blue sleeve, blue collar. On the back it said in big letters: Seigaku Regulars. There was a table with the sign Tryouts on it, it also said in small red letters: No Freshmen—with some guy sitting there. Well in all technicalities I wasn't a freshman I thought to myself. I walked over to him and he asked me:

"Name please…"

"Mi—" then I remembered that I was supposed to be a boy, which means boy name too. "Michael," I hope I remember that.

"Age?"

"15."

He got up and went to a dry erase board behind him with a table drawn on it; he started to write my name in. The table would tell who versed who, but isn't this a tryout? Whatever, I had to play someone called Eiji Kikumaru, Syusuke Fuji, and Sadaharu Inui.

Then a hyper voice yelled towards my direction. "Ehh? Who am I playing today?" The guy had red hair, excitedly asked and started to search for his name on the board. I noticed he had the special shirt on: Seigaku Regulars.

"Who's Michael?" He asked out loud, I was surprised and I turned towards him

"Me," I responded.

Oh crap, I'm going up against with a regular! That means he gets to be in the tournaments, he got picked out from all of them—so he must be good!

"I never heard of ya, squirt!" SQUIRT?

"I'm, I'm new…from the U.S. the new student who just transferred," I stuttered while readjusting my cap down tighter.

"YOU SPEAK JAPANESE!" He just realized.

"Uh…yeah…" I responded a bit confused.

He got closer to my face and said, "LET'S GO MEET PEOPLE!" I can guess he is an overly excited guy, I thought to myself. Before I could respond, he grabbed my wrist and started to drag me somewhere. Soon I could see we were heading towards another guy with a regular's shirt on too. He had two stray black locks dangling at the front of his head.

"OISHI! OISHI! LOOK!" He shouted from across the courts while waving his racket in the air, "I'm battling a squirt today! A new squirt from the U.S. who speaks Japanese!" I lowered my head in embarrassment as he still dragged me along with him closer to this Oishi guy.

"Sorry about Eiji, he loves new recruits," Oishi apologized for Eiji. Before I could talk back, a whistle was blown. The same old lady I saw this afternoon came out and started talking.

"Welcome all, now you know the drill. Fight for your places on the regulars. Go! First up Eiji and Michael…? Who's Michael?"

The place was quiet, "Michael…?" She asked again, looking all around for anyone.

A few seconds later, "Oh! Me! I'm Michael! Sorry, I'm new," I made my way to the front where she was and bowed. That was close, damn it, I almost forgot my guy name…gee this is going to be tough.

"Oh alright. You guys are on court E with one set match."

"Cool," I said. I gathered my pack and started to walk over to court E. Arriving at the empty court me and Kikumaru-senpai parted ways, settling our stuff on the benches. I unzipped my pack and took out my blue racket. Readjusting my shoelaces and my cap, I was ready to go.

"Oy! You ready to play?" I heard him shout from behind me. Turning around I saw him standing at the net, waiting for me. I walked up, and shook his hand.

"Totally ready," I replied with a smile on my face. "Let's have some fun Kikumaru-senpai!" We both headed towards the baseline, and it was my serve first. I tightened my hat, bounced the ball a few times and threw it up in the air. Swinging from 1 o'clock to 7 o'clock, the game began.

"15 love!" The referee called. Kikumaru just stood there in a daze, sort of amazed.

"Oh! Did you see that Oishi!" He shouted waving his racket in the air with a smile on to a guy behind the fence watching.

"Eiji…" He laughed with a gentle face. Now he returned to his stance with a more determined face on. My next serve, using the same power and technique we rallied. Both of us kept to the baseline running back and forth, then I hit a lob.

I clicked my tongue, "shit." I cursed to myself, and then Kikumaru suddenly appeared at the net in a flash. He returned my lob, and I hit it back to his wide open side. Then he kicked off his legs with his back facing me and managed to reach the ball in time, hitting it with the back face of his racket.

"Kikumaru Beam!" He shot a sharp volley with his back facing me and hand reaching.

"15 all!" The referee cried. I stood there, amazed at what just happened.

"Oh? Kikumaru-senpai, impressive…" I said smiling to myself as I walked back to the baseline. The game continued on, both of us scoring and him using his acrobatic play at the net.

"Game: 1 game to love!" Yes, I kept my service game at least, now his turn, let me see what you got Kikumaru-senpai. He served and once I went to return the ball, he was already up by the net. Using his acrobatic play at the net and controlling the game from there—I couldn't score any points.

"Game: 1 game to all!" His net play is a force to be reckoned with. I clicked my tongue trying to think things through. I bounced the ball a few times, readying my serve.

"All I have to do," I threw the ball up in the air, "is keep him from the net." I hit a high speed serve, and the game continued.

Going from 2-1, 2-3, 5-3, "match point!" called the ref. At this point, I could see Kikumaru was panting and sweating a lot already. By then we had a couple of on lookers for our game.

"All that stamina gone while jumping around Kikumaru-senpai?" I asked out loud, and served.

He returned the ball but with less power than normal, I could feel it as I returned his ball. As I returned the ball, I ran up to the net. He returned the shot, and saw me at the net; I raised my racket and hit a light volley. Making it a drop shot that just made it over the net and bouncing twice without enough time for him to receive it. Though he did try, using his acrobatic style, he bounced off his left hand, flipping forward but as he stretched out to reach the ball, it missed the frame by a centimeter. Making him land on his front while the ball rolled away on his side of the court.

"Game set! 6 games to 3, Michael advances!"

Leaning over the net, I offered my hand to him. "Nice game senpai, it was fun," he took my hand and stood up.

"Yeah…" He said dejected, and walked off the court solemnly. I watched his back as he walked out of the court and I sighed. Everyone just watched him go and walked after him, leaving me all by myself in the court. Except for this one tall guy with glasses, he was scribbling in this notebook—he left soon enough though.

"Sorry Kikumaru-senpai, hope you don't feel too down. I wish to see you advance and play along your side," I said to myself wishfully while walking back to pack my racket. When I sat down on the bench with my towel around my neck, I was about to take my hat off and let my hair free in the breeze for a few.

** "Yo…"** Someone called in back of me in English. Completely surprised, I jumped and turned around to see who it was .Ryoma Echizen.

**"Ryoma Echizen! What are you doing here?"** I asked surprised yet excited, keeping my cool. I inwardly breathed that I hadn't taken my hat off in that second.

**"I go to school here…"** I noticed his uniform; he was one of Seigaku's regulars.

**"Oh wow I didn't know."**

**"Have I seen you before…?" **He speculated me. Oh crap, he used to be in the states and trained with our Junior U.S. Team where I was on—as a girl.

**"Uhh, well I guess maybe around school?"** I lied through my teeth.

**"Hmm…yeah…I guess that's where I've seen you before. Later Michael."**

Phew, close call, hopefully he doesn't recognize me that well. I started to collect my things again and who my next match was. Walking to the scoreboard, I reported the game just played and stared at the ranking blocks.

"Who's Inui?" I wondered out loud.

"That would be me." Someone behind me answered. I turned around and there was that guy with those gleaming glasses.

"I have observed your game, calculated your plays and skills; concluding the percentage you will win against me is 0%." He reported to me as he went to adjust his glasses on his nose.

I put a grin on, so a data player huh? Interesting…

"Oh really? I believe your chances are winning are pretty slim too." I responded back with my interests spiked, as I adjusted the bag on my shoulder.

"We're playing on court B in 43 minutes, see you there." He walked off; I have to admit he is a bit intimidating and scary—in his own way. I decided to head there early and just relax on the bench, maybe let my hair out and get some breeze through it. Opening the huge fenced door, no one was on this side of the courts yet. I heard cheering in the distance, and thought nothing of it. Setting down my tennis bag, I lied down on my back with my hands behind my head and legs propped up. After a few minutes of relaxation, I heard more loud shouting. Tch what are those squealing girls yelling about? I got up a bit frustrated that my relaxation time would have to wait, and walked over to where the commotion was. Through the fenced walls, I saw a game going on, it was between some junior in those blue green sweats and…Inui-sempai? The other guy was panting pretty hard and sweating all over, while Inui on the other hand looked pretty calm. It was the guys serve and then I heard it,

"92% it will be on the right corner," he readied himself at the corner to receive the guys' serve. And to my surprise, it did land at the right corner, where he was just waiting for it.

"Ah! As expected of Inui-sempai's Data Tennis!" The fan girls screamed a bit more, making me gag—just a bit. As I observed, every time the guy would return a shot Inui would just be right in front of the ball, waiting for it—making an easy counter. I turned to leave the match as it was, and went back to my own court. Hoping to get the rest that I had craved for. Sitting down and leaning back on the bench I rested my eyes. Then the horrible screech that came from the fenced door moving, rang my ears. I looked up from my hat to see Inui-sempai in the court, ready and well.

"You're early. Nice game back there, Data Tennis must be fun huh?" I asked while standing up and stretching.

"Mmm…." He responded back with no particular answer.

"Well if you want a break I'll wait till the actual time of our match, but if you don't mind, I would love to start now." I said with my racket already in my hand, facing him.

"I have no problem with starting now," he expressed. We both approached our respected service lines, and I pulled a ball from my pockets in my shorts.

"One set match, Mic—" I caught myself, "Michael to serve." I threw the ball in the air and hit it as I normally would.

"Love 15," he shouted as he didn't return my serve. I bounced the ball and served once more, this time we rallied until he missed a ball out of his range.

"30 love," I counted. And so the game progressed as I kept my service game, while Inui-sempai could do nothing but try and return my shots.

"Game, 1 games to love, Inui-sempai to serve," I announced as I won the first game. He bounced the ball once, then twice and threw it up, hitting it towards the left corner of the service line. I ran to catch up where the ball would land and prepare to return it when I heard,

"70% you will hit it cross court," he said aloud. To my surprise, I caught myself already having hit the ball cross court just as he said. He was already there waiting for my ball and hit a straight shot.

"15 love, Inui to serve."

"I told you my calculations are never wrong," he threw the ball in the air and I received the ball as usual, expecting a rally before he catches me in another pinch.

"85% it will hit the net," he stood there unmoving. Bounce, bounce, the ball hit the net and never made it over. I tightened my grip in frustration.

"Dammit," I huffed. He knows all my weak spots where I have a higher chance of not making the point. After that this match started to go at his pace, with me panicking at my every move, doubting my shots. He just let me win those first few games so he could gather more accurate data. Tch, I clicked my tongue.

"Game 5 games to 3."

I have to get my act together, I have to calm down and think about the situation. It was my serve, I tossed the ball high up in the air, "well I've got news for you Inui-sempai the game of tennis I play has no boundaries!"

I hit the ball and the game continued.

"Watch and learn sempai," I grinned waiting to return his ball. The key to winning this game, I thought to myself, is to have unexpected moves that will throw off any data he has. He returned my ball easily as expected, but I hit a drop shot—not predicted within his data.

"love 15," I counted. This game can still go to me, I thought to myself. All I have to do is realize my bad habits' which are easily predicted and calculated by him. Then performing the opposite of what he thinks, therefore fully defeating his Data Tennis. It was hard at first, my body moved on its own when receiving a ball, but I had to be in control and think about how I usually return the ball and do something off instead.

"Game…7 to 5, Michael advances…" Inui said out of breath, sweating all over, bent over his knees.

"Not bad sempai, but I told you, can't beat me with Data. Expect the unexpected, I had fun playing tennis with you…sempai!" I smiled while offering my hand over the net. He caught his breath up and walked to the net, shaking my hand,

"Good game, I must readjust my Data to you then," he smiled.

I laughed, "hahaha hai sempai!" (yes) I returned to my bench and put my racket away. I adjusted my cap a bit tighter, whew at least it hasn't come off yet—especially in my last match. Making me run back and forth so much, Inui-sempai! Then I heard some talking in the background.

"Whoa the newbie beat both of our Sempai's?"

"Tch pure luck, he'll never make it in his next few games."

The rest of my matches were against some juniors who were pretty determined to make the regulars position this year—or just not letting me make it. But I won all of my games 6-0, with them all underestimating me.

"Relax, and have fun, it's just a game of tennis," I always replied when they were angry and stormed off without shaking my hand. I sighed out loud once they walked out of the court, disappointed in themselves. How am I supposed to make friends this way, I don't want them to hate me.

"Hmmm…Oishi, have you seen him somewhere before?" Inui asks behind the fence.

"Oh…no, why do you ask?" He responds quizzically.

"Hm…nothing." Inui walks off scribbling in his notebook.

I sat down on the bench next to my stuff, swinging the towel on my neck, I leaned my head back. I'm done with all my matches, does this mean I made the team? Even making the regulars? I closed my eyes and smiled; let's see how far we go Seigaku. The sun was already beginning to set, and everyone lined up in some sort of file order which I knew nothing about. So I stayed in the back, while the old lady spoke again. She always whore some weird pink colored matching sweats with her hair in a tight pony tail. My mind wondered off a bit as she talked on and on about I don't know what. Finally came the part where I was interested in, the 8 regular players were being chosen.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu your captain, Oishi Shuichiroh vice captain, Fuji Shusuke, Kikumaru Eiji, Momoshiro Takeshi, Kaidoh Kaoru, Echizen Ryoma, and finally Kimero Michael."

I was surprised, even though I knew I won all my games, I never expected them to put me on the team. She was still going on about Inui remaining as our training coach. At that moment I remembered something.

"Ah!" I said out loud, and then covered my mouth instantly. Didn't expect myself to shout out loud—especially when Ruyzaki Sensei was giving a speech. Everyone turned to look at me with confused faces.

"What is it Michael-san?" Oishi-sempai asked in concern.

"I almost forgot! I have to go Sempai. I'm sorry!" I said frantically, bowed and left.

"Oy! Where you going Michael? What about your jersey?"

I picked up my stuff and ran out of there. I almost forgot to pick up my uniform for tomorrow, the office lady told me to come at the end of the day.

"I'm just going to pick up my uniform!" I responded quickly.

"You can borrow one of mine," Momo-sempai shouted back.

"Oh, uh no thanks! Its…for my…sister! She needs her uniform for tomorrow!" I lied again.

"Oh…he has a sister? I thought only we got one new transfer student this year…" Eiji thought out loud.

"Really? I thought the transfer was a girl, freshmen too." Momo wondered. He didn't notice that I was the one who sat next to him in English class.

"Hmm…" Inui stood there in deep thought.

"Just someone tell him about morning practices tomorrow." Ruyzaki continued on with her speech while I was already on my way into the office.

"Um excuse me; I'm here to pick up my uniform?" I took off my hat and let my hair swing in the pony tail.

"Oh, here you go. I was about to think you weren't going to show up," she expressed concerned.

I smiled thanking her. "Thank you, have a good day!" Then I got out of there. I put my hair under my hat again, and jogged outside. Going back to see if there was still anything to be done, when I got there the place was deserted, I sighed.

"Oh well…" Then I looked at the uniform in my hands, "hmm I wonder if it fits me." No one's here, so I guess I'll change in the changing room.

I went in and as expected no one was there, all their stuff was gone. I put my tennis bag behind some cardboard boxes, leaning it on the wall. My school bag in one of the shelves, and started to change. I took off my shirt, shorts and hat putting it in my tennis bag, letting my hair get some air once again. I was just about done changing, except for the tie, a few buttons on my shirt, and the half the zipper to the skirt.

Then the door opened, at the door way was Oishi, Momo, and Fuji with I don't know who else were behind them. Time seemed to stop for a moment, my hands in the middle of buttoning and my mouth slightly ajar.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any there of. I only own my OC character's: Miki, Ashley, Chiyo, Taka, and Makiyo**

**Authors Note: I changed the date of the tryout poster from Chapter 1 (sorry ^^;;) So now the date is set at 9/12/10. Sorry this chapter took so long, I had a bit of writers block thinking how to string this to the next day and everything. But this chapter is a bit boring, but I still had to write this part as the story continues, so I had made it a longer chapter (2x as long :D). Enjoy :)**

**Special Thanks To:**

**lulusuzu08 - for following :3**

**eijilover18 - for following and reviewing :)**

**MysticLamia - for fav story + me, following, and reviewing :D**

* * *

**Recap:**

_I was just about done changing, except for the tie, a few buttons on my shirt, and the half the zipper to the skirt._

_Then the door opened, at the door way was Oishi, Momo, and Fuji with I don't know who else were behind them. Time seemed to stop for a moment, my hands in the middle of buttoning and my mouth slightly ajar._

**. . .**

"Um…" I said awkwardly, nothing was really revealing about myself right now so I wasn't so concerned. I was more worried that they would recognize me and blow my cover! What are they doing back anyways? I thought they cleared out long before, I was thinking to myself. Finally someone said something.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Oishi-sempai started questioning me while looking a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah! This is the boys changing room!" Momo started too. Fuji came behind both of them and covered their eyes.

"Guys, let her finish changing first, how undignified are you both…" He dragged them out and the door closed. I could hear commotion from the outside.

"Wah! She was kawaii…!" (cute) It was Momo's excited voice. Sheesh and to think I just beat half their team. I inwardly sighed, thanking them for not knowing who I was just a few minutes ago.

"Yeah yeah!" This time I picked up Eiji's voice. I quickly finished buttoning my shirt and zipper; I was having a hard time with my bow when they knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, are you finished in there?" It was Eiji.

"Ah, um, yeah! C'mon in…" I said, trying to fix my bow in frustration. Argh stupid bow won't do itself! I can tie a tie but I can't tie a bow? How much do I fail—a lot apparently. The door opened again and all eight of them poured inside. Everyone was there but Tezuka.

"AH! She's still not done guys, how can you do this to a young girl like her?" Taka-san was freaking out and ushered everyone outside again.

"Ah…" I was going to protest, but the door closed again before I could say another word. This time I went outside,

"Um… it's ok, I'm quite presentable, I just can't get the bow quite right…Is there something you need?" I asked nervously.

"Oishi just forgot his cell phone in there, but wait what are you doing in there miss?" Momo stated.

"Ah, I'm sorry; I didn't know I was not allowed in there. I was just trying on my new uniform while I waited for my brother to be done…he told me he joined the tennis club so I was looking for him here." Way to go, thinking of such a good lie on the spot, I should be given an award.

"Oh, your Michael's sister? Well he just left to go get your uniform…" Oishi said, Fuji walked up to me and went on his knees; he tied my bow for me.

"I have an older sister," and he ruffled my hair after he was done.

"Ah…thank you…mister?" I said pretending not to know his name.

"I'm Fuji Syusuke, you can just call me Fuji. And this is Oishi Syuichiroh,"

"You can just call me Oishi," he replied.

He continued, "Kikumaru Eiji, Kawamura Takashi, Inui Sadaharu, Momoshiro Takeshi, and Echizen Ryoma."

"You can just call him Ochibi, and me Eiji." Eiji explained to me.

"Ah, it's very nice to meet you, people just call me Taka," he said shyly and shook my hand.

"Hello I'm Inui," His glasses gleamed at me.

"Hi…Inui-sempai." Phew they haven't recognized me yet.

"Yeah! And I'm Momo, you can just call me Momo-chan!" He said with a big smile, I laughed.

"What's your name? Since now you know all of ours." Oishi-sempai explained.

"Oh—" I got cut off.

"Your name is Michelle, isn't it." Ryoma said out of the blue, he had this look in his eye. "I read about you, weren't you on the Junior U.S. Tennis Team with your brother?" He asked bluntly.

"Um…yeah I was, back then." I panicked in my mind, is he on to me?

"Wow! Sugeh!" (amazing) Momo-chan said in fascination.

"You sure look alike your brother, are you guys twins?" Inui asked suspiciously. Uh oh.

"Oh no, he is a year older than me haha. I'm only a freshman," I smiled trying not to show how nervous I was.

"Well since your brothers not here, we were just about to go grab something to eat, would you like to come?" Fuji-sempai asked.

"Ah, I wouldn't want to intrude on a team meal, hang out, thing." Truthfully I don't have a lot money yet to spend like that. In the back of my mind, I did a tear drop.

"Its okay, any sister of our member is a sister to us," Fuji-sempai said.

"Oh, no…well, I don't have any money on me right now," I laughed nervously.

"Well that's okay! Eiji-sempai here will treat you!" Momo-chan hooked onto Eiji-sempai's neck and pointing to his face.

"What? Why me? I didn't even get my allowance this week, that's no fair Momo-chan." Eiji pouted.

I had to laugh at his kid like behavior, "ah, it's okay really…hahaha I'm just sorry I can't eat with you guys."

"I'll buy." Says Oishi-sempai

"You really don't have to Oishi-sempai!" I said hurriedly. I don't know when I can pay him back either…the little money now, is going all towards my books for school and some new tennis stuff.

"C'mon the guys want you there," he claimed.

"Right Ryoma?" Asked Momo.

"Wiss…." He answered then looked away uninterested. Uh huh, totally wants me there.

"Umm ok then. Let me just grab my stuff." I ran back in the changing room, dam it that Ryoma and Inui are catching on! I grabbed my book bag, but left my tennis bag there.

"Ready!" I came out with my stuff and we started to walk. I have to pretend I don't know them. You can do this! We walked around the streets of Tokyo and came upon this fast food restaurant that seemed very like McDonalds in the states. Ordering our food and grabbing seats, I once again thanked Oishi-sempai for the meal.

"I will pay you back Oishi I promise." I said, reminding him.

"Hahaha, it's ok as long as your brother plays well for Seigaku," he sipped his soda.

"Speaking of tennis, are you going to join the girls team? A member like you could help them rise to the top," Momo explained thoughtfully.

"Let her do what she wants. Ssss…" Kaidoh murmured.

"What did you say, Viper?" Momo had an annoyed face on, then they blew up into each other's faces.

"Ahahaha, this is very normal Michelle, just ignore it, they've been like that since 1st year." Explained Taka-san.

"You can just call me Miki is fine," I said. Then, "ah! I know where I've seen you Momo-chan!" I tried to act surprised. They stopped fighting and looked at me all confused.

"You have? Where?" He exclaimed confused, trying to remember himself.

"We have English class together." I said calmly. Everyone shouted,

"Nani? But didn't you say you're a freshman?" He asked confused.

"**I speak perfect English, mind you.**" Heh.

"Oh right! The new girl sits next to me! I was eating…" He scratched the back of his head nervously, and everyone laughed. Everyone had a good time it seemed, even myself, we all dumped our garbage and started to leave. Right when I walked through the door, I saw a help wanted sign taped on it.

"Hey, I'm going to use the bathroom before we go, I won't take long so you guys can go ahead!" I ran back inside, and they shrugged continued to walk outside while I went to the counter to ask for an application to work there. I filled everything in and handed to back, they needed a new worker fast—so they hired me and told me to come back tomorrow to set up my schedule. I walked outside and stuffed the papers in my book bag. Everyone was waiting for me outside.

"What? What are you guys still doing here? It's pretty late at night! You should all go home and rest." I said with a worried expression. Hopefully they didn't see me filling out that job application form.

"Eh? But we cannot leave a kawaii girl walking home all alone on our consciences." Said Momo-chan.

"Yeah I can't imagine the guilt I would feel walking home, that we left you alone at night. And you're new here, we're not sure if you know the way." Taka-sempai said shyly. He's right, I didn't even think about that—how was I supposed to get home alone from here.

"Yeah, it's alright none of us live very far anyhow." Fuji-sempai reassured me. So I gave them my address and we started walking. Everyone talked and joked around on the empty streets to my place

"We're here," I said as I spotted my huge apartment complex. They all just stared at me and then the building.

"Are you and your brother rich Michelle-chan?" Oishi-sempai asked.

"Ay, ay, Michelle-chan sounds weird, I told you to call me Miki." I avoided the question.

"Okay Miki-chan. Oyasumi, see you tomorrow!" (Good night) Fuji-sempai said.

"Hai!" (Yeah) I smiled. Ryoma just looked at me suspiciously, and so did Inui sempai. I laughed nervously, while waving them off as they walked. Once out of sight, I breathed a breath of relief. I took the elevator up and got to my floor, cleaned up a bit, unpacked my essentials. Such as laptop, photo albums, camera, and things I use on a regular basis. Then I went to bed.

The next day again I was woken up by the most annoying sound of the day—I groaned and rolled around to the other side of my bed ignoring the blaring tone. After a good 10 minutes, it stopped ringing and I rolled on my back staring into the ceiling. Thinking about nothing, I got out of bed, grabbed my cell phone and turned off all the other alarms set to ring soon. Then I received a text message. I opened it to read what it said and I had a smile on my face.

"_**Hey Michelle! How are you? How is it over there? Ah its so boring without you here! School has become unbearable without your jokes. Everyone misses you here! :( What time is it over there? It is around 6:35PM here."**_

The message was sent from Ashley, we have been friends since my middle school days back in the states. We became friends after having found out our personalities are similar and sharing similar rich snobby parents. I replied immediately,

"_**Ash! So good to hear from you! Oh man its so different around here, people are different, the language is okay. But I miss you and everyone else too! Ah school can't be that bad—well yes it can. Ah, well I have to go get ready for school its like 7:37AM right now; you would have a ball knowing what I'm getting myself into. Hahaha talk to you soon!"**_

I press the sent button, and then threw my phone onto my bed going into the bathroom to do my regular routine. I let my hair down this time, but wore a small black hair tie on my wrist incase. I still didn't have those socks and shoes, since you are supposed to buy those separately. But even without those I put on the uniform, buttoning up the shirt and zipping the skirt. Also wearing the mini long sleeve vest on top of the white button up shirt. How weird, a green vest, with matching skirt, then a white shirt and pink bow. I took a look at the mirror and decided that it was the most ridiculous outfit; I mean who matches green, white and pink? I sighed to myself, and randomly tied the bow however it felt like tying itself to look like. Putting on some regular ankle high socks and my high-top converses, I was almost ready to leave.

"My cell phone," I grabbed it from my bed stuffing it in the pocket of my green skirt.

"My back pack," I swung it onto my right shoulder, "and my tennis bag…" My hand was touching nothing. I looked down and around, searching frantically for my tennis bag. This is the only spot I would've left my tennis stuff at. Then instantly remembering that I had left it in the changing room when they caught me in girl mode! Ah, and my disguise was in there too, I had to think of how to get it back. For now, school awaits! Again following the crowd of students, this time blending in with the same uniform I walked and then I felt a vibration in my pocket. I dug out my cell phone and saw that Ashley had texted me back,

"_**What did you do now? Don't tell me its worse than that time you revealed that Mrs. Krowigsy, actually wore a wig in front of the whole class…"**_

I had to stifle a laugh at the memory, back then she was our science and homeroom teacher. And the whole class was convinced that she wore a wig—her hair just looked so wrong and flick-able. Looking back down at my phone about to respond, I suddenly bumped into someone.

"Ah!" The girl completely fell forwards on her face, while I just staggered back a bit. Immediately I started to say, **"Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" **She looked at me a bit puzzled and frantic, like she doesn't know how to respond or what to say. Then I realized I just spoke English out of habit.

"Oh! Ah moshiwake arimasenga, daijobudesu ka?" (So sorry, are you okay?) I said this time in Japanese.

"Ah…yeah, I'm okay," she responded in a small voice, then I helped her up and she straightened out her skirt. She had long brown hair in two braids.

"Sakuno!" Someone from behind us shouted, she looked over my shoulder and I turned around to see what the commotion was. There was a girl with brown hair and two pig tails storming her way over to us. She gave me a stink eye then went to hug the other girl.

"I saw you were bullying poor Sakuno over here!" She pointed a finger in my face. I looked surprised but then that soon disappeared to anger. I shoved my cell phone back in my pocket, "What do you mean bully? It was an accident, she was just standing there while everyone else was walking—it was bound to happen!"

"Tomo-chan!" The girl in her arms said with a small voice, trying to stop her friend from arguing with me anymore. "It's okay, it was an accident, and she helped me up. I shouldn't have been standing there in the first place…" She said shyly and bowed to me with a nervous look as this Tomo person just kept glaring at me.

"Don't apologize to the likes of her Sakuno, let's go." Tomo dragged Sakuno by her arm and pulled her to walk.

Tch, I huffed, how rude, who would bully a girl like that? And why would a person like me bully someone in the first place? Frustrated I decided to speed walk to school before I was late. I took a breather as I sank in my chair, made it in time for homeroom. Then I remembered I never texted Ashley back since the incident this morning occurred. Quickly I took out my cell phone and sent a message over to her,

"_**No I didn't…well that gives me an idea, but no hahaha. I'll tell you later, class is about to start—that sounds weird coming from me, but they're pretty strict around here. Though I can sneak a text or two once in awhile :) I'll just text you during my lunch break or something, later!"**_

Once I pressed the sent button, I was about to put my phone back in my pocket before someone took it from me. I immediately looked behind me.

"Miki-chan was hiding her cell phone from us?" Chiyo said with pouting eyes about to spill tears.

"Oh its only you guys, hey good morning," I smiled at all of them.

"Oy, taking stuff from people like that isn't nice Chiyo," Taka-kun scolded her but she paid no mind as she was typing away on my phone.

"Are you paying any attention to what I'm saying?" Taka was about to ambush her, before Makiyo-chan cut him off.

"Ah, well it's okay, as long as Miki-chan doesn't mind it."

I nodded and smiled, "its okay, I wasn't hiding it from you guys, just didn't think me having a phone was something to talk about hahaha." Then Chiyo-chan held my phone in front of my face, handing it back to me. I took it and put it back in my pocket.

"Now Miki-chan has all our numbers, and I have yours." She pulled out her own cell phone and flashed a victory sign.

"Great, now we can all email each other," Makiyo smiled happily.

"Email?" I asked confused.

"Yeah like when—" Chiyo-chan was about to answer but then the home room teacher walked in, so they had to go to their assigned seats. While he was doing roll call, my phone vibrated in my pocket again. Sneaking my phone out I took a peak to see what it was; the sender was from a "Chiyo-chan" saying, _"this is an email!"_

Oh, they meant texting! I guess we call it different things. How do I respond, my keyboard only has English letters on them…even though I can read their texts in Japanese all right. I had to go to my settings and change the language then using an on screen keyboard. While I was trying pretty hard to get the kanji right so the words would come out as I wanted them too, I didn't notice someone above me.

"Kimero-san…" A booming voice called from above, oh dam. I raised my head while still trying to hide my phone,

"Ah-hahaha…" I laughed nervously, "good morning Mitsuki Sensei."

"Good morning indeed Kimero-san," he put out his hand in front of me, expecting me to hand him my phone. I sighed in defeat and handed him my phone.

"Now go stand outside the classroom until I call you back in." While a bit confused, I still stood up and walked out of the class room. I caught Chiyo-chan at her desk with both her hands clapped together and a nervous face, signaling she's sorry. Right before I slid the door open and stepped out, I shot her a thumbs up and smiled signaling that it was okay. No one was out in the hallway, as I stood there and leaned on the wall.

"So this is how they punish kids here?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Miki-chan…?" I heard someone call me, I turned to my left and there was Oishi-sempai with a handful of papers.

"Oh, Oishi-sempai," I smiled and bowed a bit.

"Ah, no need for that, but what are you doing out here?" He asked quizzically.

"Um…you see now…well…I got my cell phone taken away…" I said embarrassed.

He laughed, "that's why you're standing out here?"

I grunted in reply and had a sour face about it. He looked up for a second and back at me, "I see, so you're in class 1-A? Well then I'll see you around Miki-chan, I have to go" He waved and went on his way to I'm not sure where. Standing there alone I started to just fidget with anything, the frill of my skirt, the bow of my shirt, and finally the chime rang through the halls. After a few moments, the door of my classroom opened and they all filled out of the room. I poked my head through the door and Mitsuki Sensei was still standing at his desk organizing some papers,

"Come on in Kimero-san," he said without looking up. I walked through the door way timidly, while he turned around and started to walk towards me. Taking my phone out of his pocket, he put it in front of me,

"Now I don't want to see this while class is in session, yes?" I nodded silently in reply. He lowered his hand as if saying to take it, and I complied, putting it back in my pocket.

"Go on to your next class before your late," he said while I walked to my desk to pick up my book bag. He left the classroom, while I followed a few seconds later, rushing up the stairs towards 3-C my English class. Right before I reached my classroom, my phone got another text message. I quickly took it out and read the message; it was from Chiyo-chan.

"_I'm sorry! Hopefully you didn't get into so much trouble, I'll see you after this class!"_

I decided to respond later, and get into class first before Tasaki Sensei threw a fit at me for being late. I slid open the door and walked through—everything got quiet. Everyone just stared at me, I inwardly sighed and tried to make my way to my desk,

"Miki-chan!" Momo-sempai called to me in the silence, waving from his seat which was next to mine. He didn't really make the staring any lighter, but it relieved some tension in the air as I had at least one friend in this class. Once I reached my seat and sat down, everyone went on doing their own thing again.

I breathed a breath of relief, "hey Momo-sempai, how are you?"He replied in muffled words, I made a confused face and turned to face his desk. Again he was eating, this time onigiri (rice balls).

"Is this when you eat your breakfast or something Momo-sempai?" I asked truly puzzled. He swallowed a large bite and had flakes of rice around his mouth, "no this is just snack time before lunch hour!" He replied happily while stuffing the rest of the onigiri into his mouth and down to his stomach. I shook my head and about to take out my cell phone and reply to Chiyo-chan's text message, but then Momo-sempai spoke up.

"Oh! I just remembered, we are supposed to tell you to pass on the message to your brother about morning practices at 7AM, and after school practices every other day Mondays through Friday at 4:30PM. While lunch practices are every day Mon to Fri. Then all day practices Sunday from 10AM – 5PM," he spoke with a finger in the air as to say as a matter of factly. "We couldn't find him anywhere in school, plus we didn't know his class number, and since the team knows that I see you now, they asked if you could pass the message to him." I sat there trying to process everything, and come up with a good excuse.

"Sure I'll pass the message to him at home, I don't know his class number either, he doesn't tell me these things," I tried to play it off. Right then the teacher walked in the room—phew saved by Tasaki Sensei. Class continued without anything odd happening, and that goes for the whole day up until lunch hour.

"No lunch box today either?" Makiyo-chan looked at me expectantly, while everyone else surrounded my desk already prepared to eat their lunches.

"No, I totally forgot with all that went on yesterday." Truly I did forget, after going out to eat with the team I just knocked out when I got home.

"All that went on…?" Taka-kun asked curiously while taking the chair from the desk in front of me and flipping it around.

"Ah yeah, all that unpacking and organizing," I laughed a bit, almost blew my cover, I thought to myself.

"Well I can always share mine!" Chiyo-chan said happily.

"I can't, thanks though, I'll just go buy something again and hopefully actually eat this time," I got up and started to walk out of the classroom.

"Come back soon," Chiyo waved along with everyone, and I waved back while exiting. Now how am I supposed to go get my tennis things—I thought while walking, maybe it's better if I leave it there. So I wouldn't get caught in the mornings with it, I thought to myself thoroughly running through the possibilities of which option was better. It would just be harder to change and not blow my cover every time. Maybe I should buy an extra pair of my tennis outfit, so I can just carry it around with me! Ah, that sounds like a good idea, I already have to go shopping for those weird shoes and socks for this uniform, might as well get more workout clothes. I decided to head towards the tennis courts—I still had to make up an excuse as to why Michael wouldn't be there today right? Heading outside, going through the side of the building, I reached the boy's tennis team courts. I looked around for anybody that I could pass on the message to. Then I spotted Momo-sempai with Fuji-sempai. I walked on over, pretending to be curious about all the surrounding tennis going on.

"Miki-chan?" Momo-sempai spotted me while Fuji-sempai turned around to face me.

"Hey guys, wow nice club you got going on here, looks fun!" I commented looking around everyone being so active.

Fuji-sempai chuckled, "thank you, what do we owe this visit to?" He referred to me stopping by their tennis club. Right to the point isn't he? I played along,

"Well good sir, I have a message for you from my brother. He cannot attend today's practice this afternoon due to taking care of business of our stay here in this country." I even gave a little bow in the end like a good messenger.

"Oh? Is everything okay?" Momo-sempai asked concerned.

"Haha yeah everything is okay, just some last minute minor details we have to take care of Momo-sempai. Don't worry about it," I responded. "Well I have to go now bye," I waved as I started to walk back towards the school. Phew they took the bait I thought as I was far enough from the courts; now back to homeroom. Inside the building, going up a flight of stairs I went back to my classroom, where I saw Chiyo, Taka and Makiyo all crowded around my desk still eating their lunches. I opened the door and took a seat at my desk where they surrounded it with chairs.

"No luck Miki-chan?" Makiyo asked me sounding sad.

"Ah by the time it was my turn I wasn't even hungry anymore," I said with a drag in my voice trying to sound over dramatic.

"Try and pack something the day before so you at least eat, you see how much Chiyo packs?" Taka-kun poked fun at Chiyo, and then she got defensive.

"What did you say?" Her eyes burned with flames while approaching Taka with her hand balled into a fist and sliding her sleeves up.

"Ma ne…" (You know…) I started to say before the fight broke out, "are you guys in any clubs?" I asked curiously.

"I am in Book club," Makiyo said while she took out series of novels from her backpack.

"Oh, I'm in Kendo." Taka said while doing a Kendo move with an imaginary wooden sword.

"I'm in gymnastics!" Chiyo-chan said brightly, while performing a back flip.

"Though the other girls have more grace than you do…" Taka-kun said quietly in the background.

"What did you say?" She got fired up again, I laughed at their antics.

"Did Miki-chan want to join some sort of club?" Makiyo-chan asked catching the attention of both Taka and Chiyo. I didn't prepare an answer myself, shoot.

"Uh, well I was on the tennis club back in America," I said thoughtfully—though saying club is an understatement for U.S. Junior Team, I thought dolefully.

"Really? Then you should join the girls tennis team here at Seigaku," Taka suggested, oh this web of lies is just getting worse.

"Oh? Sounds interesting, when do they practice?" I asked trying to keep the conversation without suspicion.

"I think every sport has practices during lunch hour and after school…Kendo starts next week, and I think Gymnastics starts about the same time, Book club too right Makiyo?" Taka-kun informed me and Makiyo-chan nodded in response. So everyone is going to be busy during lunch hour from next week on, and I have an excuse to be busy during lunch hour being Michael. This works out! I thought excitedly.

"I think I'll go ask about the tennis team next week then," I responded nodding my head as to say good idea. Then the chimes rang again, lunch hour was over. School went on with no real excitement until school let out for the day around 2:15PM.

"Is everyone free today?" Makiyo-chan asked while we all walked out of the main entrance.

"Yeah I just have to do a bit of shopping, would you guys like to show me around?" I asked truly excited about a tour.

"Sure! What are you shopping for, Tokyo has it all, and we're only a walk away!" Chiyo-chan said excitedly.

"We can show you just where to get anything you'll ever need," Taka-kun said while resting his arm on top of Chiyo's head. While they had their fight on the side, I talked to Makiyo about the socks and shoes I needed for school. Plus some home things, food, and sports attire. She looked up as though thinking for a second, before smiling at me saying she knows where to get all I needed. We all walked and had fun while I enjoyed the whole atmosphere of Japan, finally arriving at Tokyo we began to go to stores where I found all that I needed. Especially those socks and shoes—with the little money I had, I purchased 2 pairs of socks and one pair of those shoes. Our next stop was the sports store, where we all picked out new equipment for the year—Taka chose some new gloves, Chiyo-chan got a new leotard, and I bought some similar shirt, shorts, hat and white sneakers to the ones I wore at tryouts. Makiyo-chan just tried to control both Chiyo and Taka from destroying every store we went to. Finally the sun was starting to set and we decided to grab a bite to eat—stumbling upon the same fast food restaurant where I was just hired. Perfect, I thought, now to set up my schedule while they sit down and eat. Everyone got some food to replenish the lost energy spent all afternoon, and right when they sat down I left to "use the bathroom." But secretly I went to the back and set up my schedule with the manager. I had work every Saturday from 10AM to 6PM, and Mon through Fri from 2:30-4:30PM. So right when I get out of school and right when practice starts, hopefully this schedule won't be too tight. I thanked the manager while he told me my uniform will be ready for me tomorrow, and went back to my friends. After eating and having a good time, it was getting late and everyone had to go home. Makiyo promised to show me a good grocery store around the neighborhood which sold housing goods as well, some other time. We all waved bye while I walked in a different direction them the three of them. While heading home I came upon a 7 eleven by my apartment, making a mental note to buy lunch from there in the morning, I went on my way home. I unpacked everything I bought and put the clothes in the right dressers/closets. I stuffed my tennis outfit in my daily back pack so I would always have it with me, thank you for American back packs which doesn't make it look like I am carrying more than it seems. I went to shower and wash my hair, and then I put on a big loose t-shirt as my pajamas. I went into my room, sat down at the desk and turned on my laptop. I checked in on how my friends were doing, they should be in school right about now, I thought to myself. I left a message on Ash's personal website,

"_**Hey Ash! I just realized I'm sort of like in the future! Hahaha, since I'm half a day faster than you over there, well you're probably in school with everyone. Hopefully not making any trouble for headmaster. How's all that money you can never finish spending? Hahaha, well hope to hear from you soon! Its night time here, so I'm about to head to bed. Missing you always!"**_

After checking my personal email and surfing the web for an hour or so, I decided to head to bed. I had planned out my ultimate double life schedule starting tomorrow, so I set my new alarms at 6:30AM oh how my life is going down by the day. I fell flat onto my bed as I fell asleep, I secretly hoped I would wake up as my alarm wakes me—I'm not the best morning person.

The following morning right at 6:30AM the alarm rang throughout the room, the bundle underneath the covers didn't move an inch. At 6:45AM, the figure still lay still on the bed, unaware of the sounds. Finally at 7:08AM the figure has shifted!

I groaned, wondering how long my alarm has been ringing for, I faintly heard it in my dreams so I woke up realizing it was my alarm. I reached my arm out from under the covers and felt around for my phone; finally I felt the cold material and pulled it under the covers with me. With my half asleep eyes, I looked at the time—7:08AM! I quickly became awake at that moment and hopped out of bed like a ninja. I was in the bathroom in record time with a toothbrush in my mouth, while I brushed my hair out, one sock on, my skirt unzipped, my shirt buttoned unevenly, one arm in the green vest and the ribbon in my pocket. I quickly brushed out my hair tying it up in a pony tail, finished brushing my teeth, hopping around putting on my other sock on while I grabbed everything, looped my other arm in the sweater, zipped the skirt without tucking in my shirt, put on my shoes, and dumped everything in my back pack. Then I left in a hurry. Ah these shoes don't look as comfy as they seemed, I thought while running. I forgot about buying lunch again and just hurried to the tennis courts. As I turned into the school gates I saw the time on the clock tower saying 7:17AM, I rushed to the back of the building then stopped in my tracks when I saw everyone just exited from the changing room. I hid behind the wall, think fast think fast I told myself. I went around the whole building to come from the other side, and there I saw the gymnasium. I pushed the door open, and it wasn't locked to my luck! I quickly went inside and changed into my Michael outfit. Stuffing my uniform back in my backpack, I looked out the door—left and right, making sure the coast was clear then I left swiftly to the tennis courts. Everyone was jogging laps around the courts when they spotted me.

"Hey its Michael-san," Taka-sempai said while jogging, Kaidou and Ryoma kept on jogging while everyone stopped while I walked up.

"Where have you been? Didn't your sister tell you about morning practices at 7?" Oishi-sempai asked like the mother of the team that he is.

"I had to drop my sister off at Gymnastics club first," I said nonchalantly, and pointed in the direction I came from. Then an ominous aura started to creep from behind them, then a gleam flashed and suddenly we all had the chills.

"So you guys are slacking off from training huh?" Inui-sempai emerged from behind them all and cackled evilly, raising a glass of a suspicious colored drink.

"N-no, no Inui," Eiji-sempai replied quickly while he started to jog in place, and soon took off.

"Ah…then I'll see you later Michael!" Momo-sempai ran off pretty quick too, Oishi-sempai soon followed in suit.

"The last one to finish 10 laps gets my extra special "Coffee" drink," he said with a dark voice and background. My eye twitched, then me and Taka-sempai looked at each other before taking off.

"Kuso!" (Dammit) I said out loud while feeling so far behind from everyone, I was never good at running long distances—short distances sure, long distances I start to die. I don't want to drink it I thought to myself while trying to speed up. Everyone was right around the finish line of 10 laps when I had a sudden burst of energy and ran past most of them—at least I wasn't last! First came Ryoma, then Kaidoh, then Eiji, Taka-san, Oishi-sempai, Momo-chan and lastly Fuji-sempai. Poor fellow. I bent over and leaned on my knees while trying to catch my breath. So early in the morning is some hardcore exercise I thought to myself inwardly crying.

"Ah, Fuji-sempai has to drink—" I looked up about to express my sympathy but he had already held up an empty glass with a smile.

"That was really good, I feel pretty energized, would you guys like to have some?" We all looked at him with crazy eyes, then quickly picked up our rackets from our bags and started morning practices with a partner. I had to go all the way to the changing room to pick up my racket since I had left my bag in there. While in the room, I fixed my hair, whipped my sweat and then put my cap back on tightly in place. Once I exited the room with my racket about to choose a partner, Inui-sempai beat me to it.

"Michael-san, it seems to me you need some stamina and power training," he held my wrists in the air and commented about how frail they looked. Well sure I had frail wrists and arms, but I could still pack a punch I thought in a huff.

"You will be training with Taka-san," right behind Inui-sempai I saw Taka-san walking towards us.

"Well let's have a good morning practice Michael-san," he said politely and bowed quickly, then Inui put a yellow colored racket into his hands.

"Burning! Michael, we need to go! Practice, practice, practice!" I blinked quite confused; this guy was bipolar once he held a racket! Then he grabbed my arm, started to drag me to a free court while waving his racket around all over and kept shouting out a few phrases. Once on a court, and both of us in our respective places at the service line.

"Ready, ready? I can feel the fire!" He hit a ball and it just flew past me—I swear I saw a fire follow in its trail. My palm started to sweat, oh man…

After a good 20 minutes of him firing super balls at me, since he took a whole basket, I already surrendered and was on the floor. I returned a few but they were tough, I had to use two hands on my forehand shots. That was some intense practice session, I thought tiredly while on sprawled on the floor. Then Inui-sempai came around to use and pulled the racket from his hand, and called for everyone to stop and go change, since class was going to start soon, it was 7:54AM. I got up slowly, thinking about all the soreness and bruises I would be having the next day.

"Taka-sempai, I have a new found respect for you and your tennis…"

He laughed nervously, "really? Ah well I'm not so good, you're pretty amazing yourself Michael-san."

Everyone started to head towards the changing room, and I went in to put my racket back in my bag. Then I grabbed my back pack from the shelves about to leave the room,

"You're not going to change Michael?" Oishi asked me.

"Uh I just need to go give something to my sister real quick before I change," I said and headed out quickly before they could ask me any more questions. I rushed down the other side of the building where the gymnasium was and then I heard someone shout,

"Ryoma-sama!" I got ambushed from behind as someone jumped on my back hugging my neck. Then it happened, I fell forward and the person fell on top of me. Ugh I groaned out loud as the person got off and I got up slowly.

"You're not Ryoma-sama…" I heard her voice say, that's when I realized my hat was about a foot away on the ground. I turned around and saw that Tomo girl.

* * *

**Thanks for Reading. Reviews are appreciated and welcome :D!**  
**I update every 2-3 days or less (sometimes within the next day) So keep checking back! Thanks ^^**  
**Hope it wasn't too boring, I promise exciting things come soon. I thought of so many different things, I just am trying to figure out how to get to those points in Miki's life with everything going on in order**


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